“We’re heartbroken for him,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “He’s overcome so much in his career, and if anybody can do it again it’s Rodney. He’s played a lot of great football and has a lot more ahead of him. He’s just a tremendous person and player, and we’ll miss him on the field. But we know he’ll be with us every step of the way as a team captain and that other players will step up in his place.”

This is Anderson’s third season-ending injury at Oklahoma. He was lost for the year in 2015 after going down with a broken leg two games into the season. The following spring, he suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck and was out for the season again.

Anderson came back to win the starting job midway through the season. Over his past seven games, he led the FBS in yards from scrimmage, culminating with 201 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the CFP loss to Georgia in the Rose Bowl.

Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley gets a chance to match wits with UCLA’s Chip Kelly on Saturday in a game pitting two of the game’s more gifted offensive coaches.

Riley took over at head coach last year, and the Sooners led the nation in total offense and quarterback Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy. Kelly’s offenses at Oregon were among the nation’s best and he is back in the college ranks after a stint with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Riley expects his sixth-ranked Sooners (1-0) to be tested. His young defense will need to learn quickly to keep up.

“Knowing coach Kelly, his reputation offensively, they’re going to continue to challenge you, to play fast, put you in tough situations defensively,” Riley said. Read More

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Oklahoma attempts to make a bigger impact in the return game in 2018 as it recorded zero punt return or kick return touchdowns last season.

Sophomore wideout CeeDee Lamb was the Sooners’ leading punt return man in 2017, registering 78 yards on 13 attempts, and is a strong candidate to handle the duty again. Junior speedster Marquise Brown and redshirt junior running back Rodney Anderson could also get looks.

Senior running back Marcelias Sutton served as the team’s primary kickoff return man last year, averaging 21.1 yards on 19 returns. Sophomore cornerback Tre Brown, a burner who played in all 14 games in 2017, hopes to see time as another option in the kick return game. Freshmen Jaylon Robinson and Jaquayln Crawford had success in the return game in high school. Robinson, a four-star recruit by Rivals and three-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN, recorded over 800 return yards during his All Saints Episcopal High School career in Fort Worth, Texas. Crawford, a consensus four-star recruit, tallied over 500 return yards during his high school days at Rockdale High School (Texas).

Senior Austin Seibert is poised to become OU’s all-time leading scorer this season as he lacks 90 points to claim the top spot. He also needs 133 points to tie the all-time FBS scoring record among kickers (he scored 132 last year). The senior from Belleville, Ill., has been a constant on special teams since his arrival in 2015, handling punt and place-kicking duties his entire career, and kickoff duties for the last two seasons.